Narrabri Gas

This Coal Seam Gas project is a significant risk to ground water and hence to the environment. There is enough evidence supporting the damage fracking can do, with the test drill sites in the area.

Anything that risks ground water must not be approved.

The dangers inherent in Coal Seam Gas projects are well known and well publicised. To continue to ignore expert knowledge indicating long lasting environmental damage will be done is shortsighted and negligent in the extreme. Australia has to move away from it's obsession with fossil fuel exploitation and take the admittedly hard steps to move toward a less harmful, renewable energy future. This project is not remotely in the public interest, it will do far more long term and far reaching damage that will heavily outweigh whatever the short-medium term economic benefit it produces it.

Additionally the local indigenous people have not given their permission for this project to go ahead. If the government is serious about righting past wrongs, steamrolling over native peoples objections seems like a terrible way to do this.

Australia needs to start making tough decisions that act in the public interest and move away from these projects we know will wreak permanent damage on our fragile environment. Do the right thing, block this proposal.

Thank you

SUBMISSION REGARDING SOCIAL AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF NARRABRI GAS PROJECT
Caroline Reid
8 Nott St
FRASER ACT 2615

Dear Sir/Madam
I object to the Project on the basis that Chapter 26 is invalid. Santos claims in Chapter 26 of the EIS that "residual social and health impacts of the Project are low". This is merely an unsubstantiated assertion.

The reality has been demonstrated as a high risk social and health impact in the coal seam gas regions of Queensland:
* House prices and rents increase then crash below original values - `In the past 12 months more than 1,000 houses have been listed for sale across Miles, Dalby Chinchilla and Roma but only 325 have been sold'; `the value of her unimproved land tripled in three years, before dropping more than $20,000 below its original value.' http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-20/report-reveals-fall-in-qld-mining-town-property/6405190
* Rates increases - `local residents incur the majority of the costs in the form of rising house prices (for aspiring owners) and rising rates ` http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/4562970/what-does-the-csg-industry-do-to-the-price-of-nearby-houses/
* Families will leave town - `Rapid change can often lead to social instability, a reduction of community cohesiveness, and individual and community wellbeing decline.' `Also affecting the character of certain towns is an outward migration of older residents who took the opportunity to sell their house for a good price. As a result, there are reports that towns are losing their volunteering resources and their informal childcare providers.' http://gastoday.com.au/news/lessons_csg_operators_can_learn_from_southern_queensland_towns/91959
* Low income earners driven out - http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/4562970/what-does-the-csg-industry-do-to-the-price-of-nearby-houses/
* Health impacts - excessive noise and light pollution, increases in traffic accidents and fatalities, increases in domestic violence, alcohol and drug use, crime and disruptions of family and community relationships https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54949381e4b05fcc6a96c5c6/t/57f698edc534a51b9098b9f9/1475778798615/HealthEffectsofFrackingBriefChesapeakePSROctober2016DontFrackMD.pdf
* Coal seam gas - Protecting Your Family - `AMA: "threat of serious and
irreversible harms to human health." http://www.ntn.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/CSG-Health-Impacts-Dr-W-Somerville.pdf
* The Big Bust - `In Dalby, many homes are worth $50,000-$100,000 less than they were at the height of the boom, and rents are $50-$60 a week lower. Miles and Chinchilla saw even higher peaks and bigger falls.' http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/csg-boomtime-over-for-south-west-qld/6050560
* Tourism hit - `Grey nomads asked to return' http://www.thegreynomads.com.au/van-park-owner-begs-grey-nomads-to-end-boycott/ ; http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/mining-leaves-a-bitter-taste-winemaker-david-clarkes-anti-coal-seam-gas-crusade-collapses/news-story/836a85f198718ec7d84cf1d5950c6723
* Prostitution - `Hookers, Bankruptcies and Crime' https://www.chinchillanews.com.au/news/hookers-crime-and-bankruptcies-whats-left-after-cs/3085804/ )
* Road damage - https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/central-queensland-councils-csg-mining-road-damage/2059655/
* Hospital admissions increase - `Gas exposure could occur naturally as chemicals rise from the ground' https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/sick-fear-it-csg-exposure/1481344/
* Cancer, respiratory and cardiac admissions increase: - `the CSG area showed increases in hospitalization rates compared only to the rural area for neoplasms (RR: 1.09, 95 % CI: 1.02-1.16) and blood/immune diseases (RR: 1.14, 95 % CI: 1.02-1.27).' http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-2787-5
* Air pollution - ozone, volatile organic chemicals, methane, hydrogen sulphide in drifting air emissions; heavy metals, radioactive elements, high PH, in salty produced water - `migraine headaches, nosebleeds and fatigue, damage to multiple organ systems symptoms' https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54949381e4b05fcc6a96c5c6/t/57f698edc534a51b9098b9f9/1475778798615/HealthEffectsofFrackingBriefChesapeakePSROctober2016DontFrackMD.pdf
* Ozone air pollution and inversion layer conditions - `Gas extraction and related activities can spark reactions that lead to high levels of ozone pollution. When ozone levels spike, experts recommend that people, especially those in sensitive groups--children, the elderly, and anyone with pre-existing respiratory conditions--limit time outdoors.' ; `Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) build high enough that they can trigger pollution-forming reactions. Warm air aloft can trap cold air below, creating an inversion that concentrates ozone pollution VOCs' http://research.noaa.gov/News/NewsArchive/LatestNews/TabId/684/ArtMID/1768/ArticleID/10808/New-study-explains-wintertime-ozone-pollution-in-Utah-oil-and-gas-fields.aspx
* Ethane emissions from gas wells ( a VOC that forms ozone in sunlight) - http://ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/23735-one-oil-field-a-key-culprit-in-global-ethane-gas-increase
* Hydrogen sulphide emissions - "Invisible, toxic, explosive, flammable, heavier than air "http://gibraltarrisk.com/content/hidden-danger-oilfield-hydrogen-sulfide-gas
* Weed spread - `Cattle farmer Allan Leech had to destock his property at Dalby, about an hour west of Toowoomba, after a sudden infestation of the noxious African lovegrass weed. ` http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-23/farmer-claims-csg-companies-spread-weeds-on-southern-qld-propert/5661016 Santos has already introduced galvanised spur into Bohena well area.
* Accidents that could impact homes and farms - `The blow-out was triggered when workers tried to install a pump and created a pressurised spout of water and gas which spewed for more than 24 hours until it was plugged. The farmer who owns the land around the well said it was the fourth gas-related incident on the property in 5 years'
http://www.smh.com.au/business/blowout-at-well-fuels-concerns-over-coal-seam-gas-20110523-1f0us.html
* Vehicle traffic - https://www.crikey.com.au/2012/03/09/csg-and-the-land-straight-from-the-farmers-mouths/
* Where has my pub gone? Local facilities taken over by male strangers
* Rise in cancer rates and hospitalisations from coal seam gas chemicals, produced water chemicals and flaring air pollution - "Between 2007 and 2012 the population of the Darling Downs increased by 7% from 235,193 to 251,893.During the same time frame acute hospital admissions for respiratory conditions increased by 124%, acute hospital admissions for circulatory conditions increased by 114%, invasive cancer incidence increased by 14%, and hospital admissions for attempted suicides increased by 50%.
https://www.chinchillanews.com.au/news/lack-of-investigation-into-health-statistics-conce/3124489/
* Interpersonal conflict - families and landholders are pitted one against another over compensation, water damage and uneven `royalty' payments http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/barnaby-joyces-forecast-of-csg-royalty-riches-compared-to-100-lamb-roast-claim-20170323-gv4lqs.html
* Emotional stress - `emotional stress as a result from gas company dealings'.https://www.chinchillanews.com.au/news/academic-research-into-csg-unveiled-at-chinchilla-/3115839/
* Massive industrialisation of landscape `It spreads like a web' https://www.crikey.com.au/2012/03/09/csg-and-the-land-straight-from-the-farmers-mouths/
* Controlled traffic farming with GPS not possible - https://www.crikey.com.au/2012/03/09/csg-and-the-land-straight-from-the-farmers-mouths/
* Suicide rates - " Dad was sitting at the kitchen table evry night studying the Petroleum and Gas Act" http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/george-bender-a-bitter-harvest/news-story/71f04e163f143a1cc699a90b9356b944
* Invasion of gas workers -"nine out of ten people you see on the street are strangers". `An influx of non-resident workers in fluorescent work gear has changed the look and character of some towns http://gastoday.com.au/news/lessons_csg_operators_can_learn_from_southern_queensland_towns/91959
* National purchasing of food and materials; not local https://www.centraltelegraph.com.au/news/farmer-sick-csg-workers-camp/804775/
* Workers banned from town - mis-behaviour, alcohol and violence https://industry.gov.au/Office-of-the-Chief-Economist/Publications/Documents/coal-seam-gas/Socioeconomic-impacts-of-coal-seam-gas-in-Queensland.pdf
* Littering and rubbish
* Contamination of Namoi flood plain system - Santos will be dumping salty treated CSG water into Bohena Creek. Brine ponds and produced water ponds are located in Namoi catchment (Santos EIS 2017)
* Produced water and drilling fluid dumping - "Contamination and excessive salt levels at a drilling site in the state's north" http://www.smh.com.au/environment/santos-faces-fines-for-pilliga-coal-seam-gas-salt-spill-20131218-2zkob.html
* Failing to pay contractors -`GAS giant Santos has been blamed for the collapse of a major Brisbane-based LNG contractor after delaying payment terms ` http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/santos-blamed-for-company-collapse-after-delayed-payment/news-story/c996a46b27fa03a14ac43cf9befd08c3
* Failing to compensate landholders - `Gas companies known to refuse to reimburse landowners until an agreement is signed' https://www.chinchillanews.com.au/news/chinchilla-csg-crisis-meeting-mounts-case-for-chan/3054691/)
* Silencing complainants with confidentiality agreements -`Gagged by confidentiality clauses' http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-30/coal-seam-gas-rights-feature/3193840
* Property value decrease -"The value of their property has probably decreased due to coal seam gas which meant they had less equity to borrow money" https://www.chinchillanews.com.au/news/academic-research-into-csg-unveiled-at-chinchilla-/3115839/
* Inability to borrow money - `Unable to use property with gas wells as loan security' https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/30/commonwealth-bank-coal-seam-gas-makes-property-unacceptable-as-loan-security

Caroline Reid
BSc (Hons1) MSc (Saf.Sc.)

6/4/17

I object to the Narrabri Gas Project. Santo's drilling could permanently damage the Great Artesian Basin - the sole water source for towns and farms across 22% of rural Australia.

Santos have already poisoned an aquifier at Narrabri with uranium 20 times over safe levels. There have been over 20 other reports of spills and leaks of toxic CSG water as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald 8th March 2014.

I strongly object to allowing a company with a record of total disregard for the environmental impact of their drilling on the lives of the people living in their impact zone.

Submission on Santos Narrabri Gas Project

I wish to lodge this submission regarding the Narrabri Gas Project. I also wish to make clear that I am deeply concerned about this project and am objecting to it, in the strongest possible terms on multiple counts as follows.

1. We cannot trust Santos.

Santos has already proven to be an unreliable corporation having caused environmental damage via leaks and spills of contaminated water, and introducing toxic substances into aquifers. (1,2)

Doctors For The Environment stated, following aquifer contamination by Santos, that this incident 'demonstrates that aquifer contamination does happen, despite the assurances we so often receive to the contrary.' (3)

The present EIS is fatally lacking in detail. For example, there is no map indicating where the 850 wells and other infrastructure will be located. Hence, the iconic Pilliga Forest, largest temperate woodland in NSW, could be sliced up into totally nonviable habitats for threatened wildlife species such as the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater and the Pilliga Mouse, which is found nowhere else.

This is a totally inadequate and inappropriate EIS on which to assess the largest development project ever undertaken under the Environment Planning and Assessment Act.

2. The unconventional gas industry is inherently dangerous

Unconventional gas extraction poses a threat to:

(a) The total environment

The United Nations Global Environmental Alert on Fracking concluded:
'Hydrological Fracking may result in unavoidable environmental impacts even if UG is extracted properly, and more so if done inadequately. Even if the risk can be reduced theoretically in practice many accidents from leaky or malfunctioning equipment as well as from bad practises are regularly occuring.' (4)

Dr Mariann Lloyd Smith, Senior Adviser to The National Toxic Network and IPEN, summarises, 'The Unconventional Gas Industry cannot be regulated into safety; it is inherently unsafe.' (5)

Even at this early stage, the Santos project in the Pilliga illustrates these claims perfectly, regardless of whether or not fracking is used.

This danger is based on the methane emissions, damage to aquifers, toxic substances, salt, air, light, and noise, pollution.

(b) Human health

We only have to look at other countries, and regions in Australia for evidence of impacts on health. Physical effects of unconventional gas mining are well documented. Children suffer these effects more than adults. (6)

Dr Wayne Somerville, a respected clinical psychologist, in the northern rivers region of NSW, predicted that the continuous frustration of unsuccessfully resisting unconventional gas mining companies, would eventually lead to total despair and farmers committing suicide. Sadly, this prediction became a reality when a Queensland farmer took his own life, in just these circumstances. (6)

Pilliga farmers deserve better than this.

3. The local community, and farmers in particular, reject this toxic industry

They have demonstrated their resistance to unconventional mining in their region, using every strategy at their disposal, including putting their bodies on the line at blockades.

We know that 96% of community members are against the unconventional gas industry in their region, as Gasfield Free surveys have yielded this result. Gasfield free surveys are not like market research, where responses from a representative sample of the population are used. Gasfield free surveys are similar to a census, in that a serious attempt is made to canvass the views of all adults in all households in a given area. I know, because I coordinated such a survey.

By November 2015, 87 communities from 9 local government areas in the Pilliga region, covering 32.2 million hectares, had declared themselves Gasfield Free. On average, 96% of those surveyed, voted against unconventional gas. (7)

A self selected opinion poll in the Land Newspaper in February, 2017, found that 76% of respondents were opposed to unconventional gas in the Pilliga. While not as rigorous a method as the door to door survey, it can be useful in eliciting trends in community opinion. (8)

Clearly, unconventional gas is not a vote catcher.

4. The cultural significance of the Pillbara Forest

The unique Pilliga Forest, largest temperate woodland in NSW, is not only of high environmental value as the most-threatened wooded ecosystem in Australia, it is also of immense spiritual, cultural and social significance to the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people.

5. The unconventional gas industry threatens food sercurity

There are concerns regarding food security globally. Australia is the driest continent. Pilliga is important as a food production region. Pilliga is crucial to the health of the Great Artesian Basin, hence food production on a huge scale.

6. The unconventional gas industry impacts negatively on science

Air and light pollution puts the internationally significant work Siding Spring Observatory at extreme risk.

7. Unconventional Gas does not supply the local market and increases domestic gas prices

As a product developed for export, and with no requirement that any should be set aside for Australian consumers, unconventional gas does not benefit local communities. Indeed, given all the subsidies, royalty 'holidays', and rise in gas prices, as Australian domestic prices reach parity with international, virtually the only ones to benefit are unconventional gas mining companies.

Indeed, an August, 2016, ABC report stated that: 'Prices [in Asia] have collapsed and Asian manufacturers can now buy Australian gas at half the price local manufacturers are paying.' A March, 2017 report notes that: ... rising gas prices are no accident, they were always an integral part of energy companies' plans.' (9,10)

8. Climate change and fossil fuel usage

Fossil fuel usage, including unconventional gas, is driving climate change. This fact alone should be sufficient to ensure the Santos Narrabri unconventional gas project is not supported by state and federal Governments.

Gas is not a transition energy source, as the industry would like us to believe, it is a toxic, dangerous, polluting diversion from, commitment to a sustainable energy future.


References

1.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/santos-confirms-uncontrolled-leak-at-oil-and-gas-well-in-states-remote-south-west/news-story/ec9641497576cacc0d61a427669dd8af

2.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/santos-receives-warning-over-csg-waste-water-leaks-20150515-gh2mfs.html

3.
https://www.dea.org.au/media-release-doctors-alarmed-by-water-contamination-from-unconventional-gas-mining-healthy-planet-healthy-people-dea/

4.
https://na.unep.net/geas/archive/pdfs/GEAS_Nov2012_Fracking.pdf

5.
https://www.echo.net.au/2013/11/enough-to-make-you-sick/

6.
http://www.ntn.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/CSG-Health-Impacts-Dr-W-Somerville.pdf

7.
http://www.lockthegate.org.au/hundreds_celebrate_northwest

8.
http://www.theland.com.au/story/4450300/peeling-back-the-layers-narrabri-csg-poll/

9.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/gas-prices-higher-in-australia-than-in-export-destinations/7680106

10.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-09/gas-prices-will-rise-and-there-is-not-much-we-can-do-to-stop-it/8340536

Some smart countries have BANNED coal seam gas. WHY is Australia still doing it??????

Leave our beautiful temperate first alone so our children can enjoy a better healthier future. No fracking!!!

The Narrabri gasfield poses a real risk to our two most precious water resources: the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray-Darling Basin. The area of the Great Artesian Basin with the highest recharge rates is almost entirely contained within the Pilliga East forest. In a worst-case scenario, the water removed for CSG extraction could reduce water pressure in the recharge areas--potentially stopping the free flow of waters to the surface at springs and bores across the whole Great Artesian Basin.¹

Creeks in the Pilliga run into the Namoi River--a part of the Murray Darling Basin. This system is vulnerable to contamination from drilling fluid spills and the salty treated water produced from the proposed 850 wells.

I resolutely object to any form of fracking or mining in areas that have ground water, rivers, dams or in fact any water reserves. Water is a precious commodity in this country and we cannot survive without it. It is time to move away from fossil fuels of all kinds and to start protecting our Earth for all.

Hi,

I worked for Santos and I don't support their plan to develop their Narrabri gas field.

They are a business not focused on postive out comes, but profit. The positives they provide to local communitys are short lived, examples exist where they operate in Gladstone, and Roma. Not to mention the false notion of large amounts of local jobs. In Gladstone I witnessed the majority of their construction workforce came from other projects around Australia, not Gladstone. All companies and investors brought up housing prior the the beginning of the project. This I imagine had the effect of locking local people out of the housing market. Now the project is over, there are now suburbs of empty homes. The gains from allowing Santos to operate in Narrabri are short term.

Not to mention their environmental impact. If the project is given the go-ahead they will have a devastating impact in areas they operate.

The pilliga is a sensitive Koala habitat. Koala numbers are declining fast.

Posatives, cash some jobs.

Negatives, decades of environmental degradation, dirty energy, short term economic gains, vulnerable animals at risk.

The risks are far to great. Do not let Santos develop the Narrabri gas field

Our nation has the capacity to move towards renewable energy sources that are sustainable and safe. Instead, we're considering hundreds of gas wells in the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray Darling Basin? When accidents happen - as they inevitably will, in a project of this scale, particularly when conducted by a company with the kind of track record Santos has - we will poison land and water that we cannot afford to do without. Even if everything goes perfectly to plan, one of Australia's biodiversity hotspots will be fragmented, and thousands of tonnes of salt waste will be produced each year - waste which Santos apparently has no plan for disposing. The gas itself will leak into the atmosphere, threatening the health of people in the region, exacerbating climate change, and creating pockets of highly flammable material in an area already prone to bushfires.

Listen to the wishes of the local community, respect the opposition of the traditional custodians, the Gamilraay, and do not allow this project to go through.

Coal seam gas fuels dangerous climate change. Young people like myself, have to deal with the consequences of choices that were not made by us. Our beautiful world is being poisoned. It sickens me to see the damage that has already been done. Why put us into further jeopardy?
Methane is by far the major component of natural gas, and is a greenhouse gas 72 times more powerful than CO². CSG fields contribute to climate change through the leakage of methane during the production, transport, processing and use of coal seam gas.

Human health is compromised by coal seam gas
A range of hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds can be released into the air from coal seam gas operations, including flaring of gas wells. The effects of volatile organic compounds vary, but can cause eye, nose and airway irritation, headache, nausea, dizziness and loss of coordination. These impacts have been documented in human populations nearby to existing gasfields in Queensland, Sydney and in America.

Money means nothing if we are sick and our planet is sick. Fuelling climate change will just add to these problems. More extreme weather events will damage infrastructure and make us more unwell... Ironically costing us more money. Stop the viscous cycle!

Leave nature alone. This planet is finite and as intelligent beings​ on this planet we have the responsibility to protect it in everyway we can. We also have the knowledge and technology to produce energy sustainably, so why don't we?!

I grew up in this area and most of my family and friends still live and contribute to this community . I have worked for CSIRO and DPI and have spent a considerable amount of time scrutinsing many scientific articles from around the world and have come to the conclusion that coal seam gas is not a path that should be taken, especially in this area. The reasons for this are numerous and have been noted by many people before myself. This is a subject that has united historically opposing sides policitically. Farmers, miners, people working in the towns all oppose coal seam gas in the area. It is time that the government starts listening to their constituants and acts on their behalf. The ramifications of not listening and acting now are long lasting and irreversible.

As a parent and health care practitioner I oppose any threat to clean water, clean air and healthy soil.
There are cleaner alternatives to coal seam gas. Please use them.

NSW does not need coal seam gas which destroys agriculture and ground water and brings toxic chemicals to the surface. What we need is a Government policy to reserve sufficient gas out of current gas mines for domestic use. The rest can be sold to Japan or China. Australians should come first when it comes to Australian resources.
To underline my primary concern, if Santos contaminates the Great Artesian Basin we will be without that pressure resource effectively forever.

Our country has better economic options and long term sustainabity than supporting santos or any monetarily minded investors.
They are never caring and will never care for anything but profit and have no real concern for a healthy, positive, long term natural support systems in our lands.
I will not put up with it.

Balanced leadership, not capitalist driven destruction. Sustainable and renewable solutions only, can be as profitable, think harder, you can do it, that is what we trust you to do. #backtodrawingboard

Stop this madness now, our land and water is for everyone for all time, not some mad greedy grab for a few for a short time, this is the Pillga, stop the pillage!!
I cannot believe our politician s are so easily fooled?? They must have their snouts in trough too!! No normal people would allow this reckless endangerment of the artesian basin!!

I have so many objections to this.

CSG is hardly what we need to be spending so much effort getting out of the ground when the potentially cataclysmic effects of climate change are staring us in the face. If the same efforts could be put into renewable energies our country would benefit greatly from such easily accessible fuel sources like wind and solar. Not only does the mining of CSG risk damage to our environment through climate change, it has high risks of damaging and polluting two vitally important water sources, the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray-Darling Basin. Santos does not have a clean track record of mining CSG, having already contaminated a freshwater aquifer in the Pilliga with uranium at levels 20 times higher than safe drinking water guidelines, and there have been over 20 reported spills and leaks of toxic CSG water from storage ponds, pipes and well heads.

There is the human impact to consider as well. The traditional owners of the land are deeply opposed to Santos's plans to mine there, as are the vast majority of farmers and local communities in the region. Not only will mining there disrupt the Gamilaraay people's cultural sites and stories, it will pose a significant health risk to both humans and the already threatened native wildlife that lives in the area.

Please do not allow Santos into our precious Pilliga Forest and Great Artesian Basin.